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King Alfred in doubt after bank drops out

3:10pm Tuesday 29th July 2008 in


The controversial King Alfred development is hanging by a thread today after the withdrawal of its financial backers.

Dutch bank ING has decided to pull out of the £290 million Hove scheme because of the shaky state of the financial and housing markets.

Karis, which has been leading the project on the ground, is now believed to be looking for alternative sources of funding.

The developer has until November to secure a new financier before its agreement with Brighton and Hove City Council runs out.

The Hove seafront scheme could now be redesigned and may need to receive planning permission again.

The Argus first revealed the scheme was in danger of floundering last month after ING and Karis launched a review.

Comments(22)

Voice of the silent Majority says...
3:42pm Tue 29 Jul 08

Should have gone to SpeckSavers... if you didn't see this coming.
Now we only have to wait for a simular statement regarding Withdean
and Brighton will be down four big projects.
King Alfred,Black Rock,360i and Falmer. Who said recession?

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Nick Brighton says...
3:51pm Tue 29 Jul 08

It's ironic that on the same web page that details the withdrawal of ING Bank from the King Alfred scheme, should be an advert for.... ING Bank.

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BiggerH says...
4:13pm Tue 29 Jul 08

poor old Brad - he must be very upset his pet project might not happen

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Camel54 says...
4:19pm Tue 29 Jul 08

Architect gone, money gone. Lets just start again shall we? Next time around perhaps it would be better to concentrate on suitable, sustainable projects rather than a nasty mess of rats nest flats which have nothing whatsoever to do with their surroundings? And if every small town and city in Europe can have good modern clean leisure centres without having to enter into Faustian pacts with the corporate world why can't we? Our local taxes are high enough in all conscience. Time for a revolution, I think.

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kennydoit says...
4:30pm Tue 29 Jul 08

As someone who lives at the southern end of St Aubyns, I am really disappointed that this project may not go ahead. We need a cutting edge development like this to revitalise the area. Still, if it doesn't go ahead, it will keep all of the Luddites that usually post on here really happy.

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davyboy says...
4:38pm Tue 29 Jul 08

this was never going to happen, was it? as camel54 says, why cant they just put up a modern leisure centre without the flats. burgess hill has the triangle, the like of which would be ideal for K.A. why does every development need housing with it? brighton cannot support more people living there.

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the viscount says...
5:09pm Tue 29 Jul 08

At last common sense prevails, lets just have a wonderful sports unit with a proper swimming pool on the site and up to date facilities.

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kennydoit says...
5:11pm Tue 29 Jul 08

davyboy wrote:
this was never going to happen, was it? as camel54 says, why cant they just put up a modern leisure centre without the flats. burgess hill has the triangle, the like of which would be ideal for K.A. why does every development need housing with it? brighton cannot support more people living there.
....and I suppose the countryside can? If the leisure centre and the flats aren't financially viable, the leisure centre doesn't have a cat in h*ll's chance without them.

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Mandarin says...
6:31pm Tue 29 Jul 08

When I saw the original concept drawings I thought this was a stunning idea, then closer inspection of the detail showed it was not really appropriate for that site. But for an exciting, adventurous scheme like this which add significantly to our architectural heritage not to go ahead is a tragedy. Brighton and Hove needs to carve out a dramatic contemporary sky line which will define its role in the UK for future generations. Let's hope the money can be found. And let's hope this does not create a domino effect impacting on the i360 or Falmer Stadium.

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hymn says...
7:16pm Tue 29 Jul 08

thank god for that, it looked cr@p in my opinion..

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Ronald says...
7:19pm Tue 29 Jul 08

Never mind King Alfred. How about sorting out this useless website Argus?

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Jools says...
7:36pm Tue 29 Jul 08

hymn wrote:
thank god for that, it looked cr@p in my opinion..
Yes, like the twin towers after the attack.

To Ronald from Hailsham, I agree, about time the Argus got the professionals in to sort out the new website.

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Glenda says...
7:51pm Tue 29 Jul 08

At least the website now matches the reporting

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mikardo says...
8:27pm Tue 29 Jul 08

The Conservatives have no reason now for not honouring their election promise and scrappimg the present scheme . As Karis were threatening to sue the council how about the council doing the same . They should also release the secret emails which show how the planning department was told to force through this mess . Maybe Karis will ask a five year old child to scribble up a new design and hire in a few more out of work actors to intimidate any future planning meetings .
The £2.5 million wasted so far could have been put towards refurbishing the present KA .

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Glenda says...
8:49pm Tue 29 Jul 08

If a bank as big as ING wont provide the finance, how will someone as small as Dosh Arghiros find an alternative source of finance. No way can anything now happen before November.
KARIS, at last being seen for what they are, are running out of friends and its unlikely even Dodgy Council by the Sea will support them with another application. Or will they........

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Glenda says...
8:49pm Tue 29 Jul 08

If a bank as big as ING wont provide the finance, how will someone as small as Dosh Arghiros find an alternative source of finance. No way can anything now happen before November.
KARIS, at last being seen for what they are, are running out of friends and its unlikely even Dodgy Council by the Sea will support them with another application. Or will they........

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rustypegs says...
9:13pm Tue 29 Jul 08

a sigh of relief for the majority of brighton and hove residents.

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brighton bluenose says...
9:17pm Tue 29 Jul 08

kennydoit wrote:
As someone who lives at the southern end of St Aubyns, I am really disappointed that this project may not go ahead. We need a cutting edge development like this to revitalise the area. Still, if it doesn't go ahead, it will keep all of the Luddites that usually post on here really happy.
Southern end of St. Aubyns?!! Come on Heather, you can do better than that!!!

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william of orange says...
10:33pm Tue 29 Jul 08

King Alfred today....Falmer tomorrow...

Where's ya banker gone...?
Where's ya banker gone...?
Far, far away.
Far, far away....

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CARTMAN says...
1:05am Wed 30 Jul 08

William of Orange asks?

Where's your banker gone?

Well he's probably joined the Dodo in CLUB EXTINCT!

No chance of a helping hand or rescue by the increasing number of the UK population joining "CLUB BANKRUPT" either!

CLUB BANKRUPT? Free entry if you have maxed out more then eight credit cards!

Only three required if you have an unserviceable mortgage!

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oldie says...
8:49am Wed 30 Jul 08

If - when - the King Alfred is re-developed - then could a hydrotherapy pool be included. The nearest one is at
Haywards Heath and they say that many of their users come from Brighton.

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rideforever says...
11:53am Wed 6 Aug 08

I go to the KA everyweek - why the fuss over redeveloping it ? It's a great complex just very dirty .. a refurb would only cost a few million, and for that the changing roooms can be tidied up a bit.

The swimming pool Karis was going to build was 25m long, same as it currently is ... so what benefits were we going to get exactly ... I seem to remember it was a bit wider but hey why not just dig out the side of the existing pool to widen it, there is room.

And there is some disused land to the west by the car park > an outdoor 5-a-side pitch.

And that godawful funfair for kids please do something nice with it.

Anyway it wouldn't cost that much, and I've got a few weekends spare anyway.

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